Not So Alone
by iChuckles
Summary: It's Christmas Eve and the moon is full. What sort of mischief can these four get into? - Marauders' Era


Laughter, oh the joyous laughter emitting from the Great Hall. As much as the young male wished to join the festivities with his fellow classmates he knew that he couldn't. Tonight on the eve of Christmas the moon would be full. It was a treacherous time of the month for the youth, but it was something he'd have to deal with till the day he died.

Many a great wizard doctors had tried in vain to find a cure for the disease that the young male had been afflicted with, but had failed every time. Being that as it may he was thankful to at least be able to go to school and have found a secure place to stay on these horrid nights through the treacherous transformations that he loathed.

Inside the Shrieking Shack he would be locked away from the outside world and away from his three best friends, as well as the other residence of Hogwarts. If he was to hurt any of them he would never be able to forgive himself. So, like many other nights on the full moon the young male found himself cold and alone in the highest room of the Shrieking Shack, or so he thought.

Hushed voices and footsteps coming up the stairs worried him. He was sure that no one besides Dumbledore and himself knew of the only entrance into the Shrieking Shack. Clearly he had been mistaken as the voices and footsteps grew louder, and inevitably, closer to the upstairs room that Remus now resided in.

Shrinking into a slightly darkened corner he hid himself as best as he was able to. There were still two hours till night fall and the accursed full moon, and for that he was thankful. He just hoped that whoever was about to step through that door would leave long before then.

Now staring intently at the door he held his breath waiting to see who the idiots were coming into this place when Dumbledore had forbidden it.

Just then the door was flung open and in walked the three that he had least expected to see, much less with a picnic basket. _What the bloody hell are they doing here?_ He thought hoping that they wouldn't see him in his not so discreet hiding place. Of course, he had no such luck for as soon as those grey eyes of one Sirius Black looked in his direction he knew he had been caught.

"Oi, Remus, what are you doing over there?" Sirius asked all too cheerfully causing the other two to look at Remus and break into grins as well.

"Hiding from you twits. What does it look like I'm doing?" It wasn't like young Remus to snap like that, but what with the full moon being so close his patience was worn thin. These three weren't helping matters either as they continued to grin at him like the fools they were.

"Well, I must say you weren't doing a very good job. Now come and feast with us on this glorious Christmas Eve." As Sirius spoke James set up the small feast that they'd most likely stolen from the kitchens while Peter sat back and drooled over the delicious food before him. Even still Remus paid no mind to the food as he continued to glare at his best mate.

"You three should leave," Remus replied tartly as he now stood with his fists clenched at his sides glaring daggers at Sirius.

"And leave you here all by yourself on Christmas Eve? I don't think so," said Sirius with that stupid grin still on his face as he walked towards Remus, but stopped when the other male pressed his body against the wall behind him. Even still the grin stayed on Sirius' face as he held out his for his friend, "please come and join us. It would mean a lot to us."

"Yeah Remus, come and join us. It's not like we can eat all this food by ourselves," James spoke up from where he now sat waiting with Peter for the other two before they ate.

Looking between Sirius' grinning face and the food Remus made up his mind to at least humor them. They still had a good two hours before the full moon. He figured that should be enough to eat and send the three of them packing. Of course, like they say, nothing ever goes as planned.

As soon as they were all finished eating Remus stood up and looked at them expectantly. In an hour the sun would be completely gone and the full moon would take its place in the night sky. Remus wasn't going to let them stay when that happened, yet they weren't getting the hint as they just stared at him almost expectantly.

"Well, aren't the three of you going to leave? We've all had our fill and now it's time for you to go back to the castle." Still, none of them made any indication that they planned on leaving him alone.

"Actually, no, I think we'll stay here." James grinned as he laid back on the floor with one leg crossed over the other and his arms under his head as a makeshift pillow.

"Besides, we're all so full. I doubt that we'd be able to walk back after how much we ate," Peter said mimicking James actions.

Remus was becoming quite annoyed as he looked at the two laying on the floor with their eyes closed. They had already cleared away all the food and put the basket in a far off corner. Now the four of them were in an open circle with Sirius sitting up, James and Peter lying down, and Remus standing up glaring at the three buffoons he called his best friends.

"You have to leave though. It's not safe here." Remus all but snapped at the three.

"Which is exactly why we're staying here with you." Sirius smirked crossing his arms over his chest in a matter-of-fact way that just seemed to annoy Remus even more. Actually, now he was more or less pissed off, which caused him to blurt out the one thing he had never wanted anyone to know besides himself, his parents, and Dumbledore.

"Don't you three idiots get it. I'm a werewolf and tonight is the full moon," he snarled out with his fists clenched at his sides glaring at the three of them. Of course, how they reacted hadn't been how he had expected them to react. James and Peter now sat up staring at him with quirked brows just as Sirius had been the whole time.

"More reason to stay with you tonight," James chirped in as Remus continued to stare at them wide-eyed and amazed unable to say anything.

"Besides, for the past month the three of us have been training to become animagus," Sirius leaned his head back against the wall behind him with his arms crossed behind his head.

"But isn't that illegal?" Remus finally choked out.

"Yes, but what the Ministry of Magic doesn't know won't hurt them, right?" At this Remus simply nodded his head slowly as a small smile graced his lips. It was in that moment that Remus realized that for once in his life he wasn't so alone. This was definitely the best Christmas Eve ever.


End file.
